Questions tagged [bible]
The religious texts of Israeli origin, considered in whole by Christianity and in part (the Old Testament) by Judaism as holy.
49
votes
5answers
7k views
What is the significance behind “40 days” that often appears in the Bible?
Several times within the Old and New Testament of the Bible there are notes pertaining to a long time as "40 days," as in 40 days of fasting, rain, traveling, etc. Why 40? Is there a factual ...
2
votes
3answers
295 views
Is the biblical Joseph story historically valid? [closed]
What are the non-scriptural evidence (if any) on biblical Joseph story, where he becomes Grand Vizier of Pharaonic Egypt in 15th century BCE. I know that the pharaoh is unnamed, and the era is close ...
4
votes
0answers
129 views
Was the Apostle the first Peter?
Is there an attested use of the Greek word "petros" (meaning 'stone') as a given name, before it was given to Peter the Apostle?
Note: The name Jesus gave to Peter was most likely 'Kepha,' since ...
-1
votes
2answers
256 views
Was Freud the first to say that Judaism borrowed from Atenism?
Every source I mention seems to attribute this to Freud. Was there an earlier proponent?
I realized the question as originally written was horrifically vague. I'm not looking for scholars before ...
6
votes
1answer
257 views
What is the oldest inscription of Yahweh found?
Is it true that Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch found an inscription of Yahweh around 2500 BC?
I've heard of the Stela of Mesha dated around 900 BC but I also came across Friedrich Delitzsch and ...
4
votes
2answers
161 views
What was the relation between the biblical king Herod and the Parthian king Orodes II?
What was the relation between the biblical king Herod and the Parthian king Orodes II who was named Hyrodes Anaridus on coins?
The son of Orodes II, Pacorus invaded Judea, however I could not find ...
10
votes
3answers
696 views
Do historians support the existence of brothers to Jesus?
Jesus does not have a brother in some Christian traditions, his mother Mary is a perpetual virgin. For instance the Catholic church holds this theory as a theologoumenon, namely a theological ...
3
votes
5answers
2k views
Did Egyptian civilization start from North to South or vice versa?
I've been reading archeological claims that say that the ancient Egyptians came from the South and that the first chiefdoms and kings were in the south.
Some also claim that there is a crown of ...
0
votes
2answers
397 views
An ancient altar with petroglyphs at the foot of Jabal Maqla--Is it Mt. Sinai?
Lately there has been an increasing awareness among biblical scholars that Mt. Sinai is in Arabia and not in the Sinai peninsula as has been previously thought. Jabal Maqla (or Jabal Al Lawz as the ...
-2
votes
1answer
214 views
Have historians offered interpretations on why the disciples claimed they saw a resurrected Jesus? [closed]
It is generally accepted by historians who studied the Bible that Jesus almost certainly existed and was crucified. We also know that his disciples claimed Jesus appeared to them after his death.
...
6
votes
3answers
548 views
What attributes did Yahweh have before becoming a monotheistic deity?
Did it "belong" to another people before he was adopted by Hebrews? Is there any anthropological reconstruction about all this monotheistic thing?
0
votes
2answers
157 views
What is a “tar shower?”
I'm reading about Sodom and Gomorrah on wiki when I come across this:
"One such idea is that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BCE. This might have unleashed showers ...
-2
votes
1answer
222 views
Were Moses & Abraham historical figures?
History is not my area of specialization. I am curious to know about the historicity of Moses and Abraham from the viewpoint of modern critical scholarship. It would be great if references are ...
0
votes
2answers
736 views
Were women in 1st century Israel not trusted as witnesses in court?
A common thing I've heard growing up is that women living in Israel in the 1st century couldn't be witnesses in a court of law because [reasons].
The times that I've heard this said it has also ...
17
votes
2answers
2k views
Are there non-Biblical references to collecting foreskins?
The Old Testament is awfully big on foreskins (e.g. Genesis 34 and 1 Samuel 18:27). In particular, the Israelites are fond of collecting the foreskins of their enemies, usually after they have been ...
4
votes
0answers
95 views
What's the story behind the making of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible?
The Complutensian Polyglot Bible was the first printed polyglot of the entire Bible and was, from what I can gather, a pretty complex scholarly effort in which many different scholars had to come ...
-4
votes
1answer
451 views
Is there any relationship between 666 and Roman numerals? [closed]
I just realised that 666 is DCLXVI in Roman numerals (all numerals in sequence from largest to smallest). I have checked wiki but there was nothing mentioned about it.
Are there any theories or ...
9
votes
1answer
286 views
Is Lady Arabella Stuart wearing a Jewish symbol?
In this portrait, Lady Arabella Stuart, a member of the Tudor royal court, is shown wearing a hexagram, presently known as the Star of David. It is unclear from the highest resolution photograph ...
3
votes
1answer
574 views
Are there any texts/translations of the 4 main Egyptian creation myths?
According to wikipedia there are 4 main Egyptian Creation Myths. These appear to be:
Ogdoad creaton myth of Hermopolis
Creation myth of Atum from Heliopolis
Creation myth of Ptah from Memphis
...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Can a source be considered 'primary' if it is not written by an eyewitness and partly based on another source?
The example I have in mind is Luke's Gospel, but the question is not about that source in particular, I'm interested in the terms 'primary' and 'secondary' in the technical sense they would be used by ...
3
votes
1answer
689 views
Differences between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the books of Moses [closed]
On Wikipedia, I read that the texts from Exodus in the Dead Sea scrolls contain some differences from the canonical version. However, I couldn't find them online. Can someone give me a few examples?
3
votes
2answers
514 views
What's the relationship between Solomon's Temple and Christians? [closed]
An Evangelical-Pentecostal church has built a huge replica of Solomon's Temple in Brazil. But why Solomon's Temple? What does it have to do with Jesus Christ and the Christian faith?
It's very odd to ...
6
votes
1answer
198 views
How do we know that prostitutes were very common/popular in Corinth around Jesus' time?
I just started reading 1 Corinthians today, and one of the footnotes in my Bible (NLT, Life Application Study Bible) has this:
...there were more than a dozen pagan temples employing at least a ...
6
votes
2answers
4k views
How long did it take to rewrite the Bible during the early propagation of the Christian faith?
Christianity was spread through the apostolic work of people manually copying and translating the Bible in different languages. Considering the style, stylized objects, etc and the resources they had ...
26
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the historical basis for the Exodus?
As a sideline to the question How Long Did the Belief in the Egyptian Sun God Ra Last?, the comments have become a long discussion on the historicity of the Exodus. Rather than have pages of comments ...
4
votes
1answer
352 views
The land of gold described in Genesis
Genesis 2:11-12 describes a land called Havillah, where there is very good gold.
Were there historical attempts made to locate this land, and what do we know about such expeditions if they did exist?
1
vote
4answers
612 views
What is the age of the oldest written proof of Christianity? [closed]
I don't mean the approximate time when a certain book in the bible was probably written but the age of the oldest copy of a book in the new testament, or other corroborating literature.
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Prisons and prison laws in Old Testament times?
Prisons where evidently known to Israelites quite early (see the story of Joseph). Nevertheless, I could find no legislation in the Torah on imprisonment - it seems that this form of punishment was ...
-2
votes
1answer
229 views
Can the historical records in the Bible be considered as accurate/factual records? [duplicate]
This question was already asked but closed. This is my initial understanding of the Bible, that it consists of the following:
Historical "facts", as there are physical evidences such as the Moabite ...
4
votes
3answers
650 views
What is known about early history of Judaism?
What do we know about early history of Judaism? Do we know the timeline when these modern traits of modern Judaism developed:
1 Lifestyle restriction that we now find in Torah, such as the ...
7
votes
1answer
152 views
When was the modern manuscript for the Torah agreed upon?
(This question is also asked on judaism.SE for a different approach.)
Considering that variations have occurred in the Torah's text over time (I think the Gemara/Talmud may mention events where a few ...
2
votes
1answer
112 views
When was the Yemenite Jewish community isolated from the rest of the Jewish world?
The Yemenite Torah and Tanach is almost completely identical to that of the Jews in Europe, but there are a few minor spelling differences. When were the communities separated such that these spelling ...
6
votes
1answer
368 views
Are the following 5 tenets of historical record examination considered complete today?
In his lectures recorded in the book Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records, p. 39, (https://archive.org/details/historicaleviden1862rawl), George Rawlinson outlines 4 laws or ...
6
votes
9answers
13k views
Is there any evidence that the book of Isaiah was written before Cyrus?
The OT Prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th-century BC. Cyrus, the Emperor of Persia, lived well over one hundred years later: Cyrus (580-529 BC) was the first Achaemenid Emperor. Yet The Book of Isaiah in ...
2
votes
1answer
889 views
What happened to Israel when Persia attacked Egypt? [closed]
See Wiki :Battle of Pelusium:
The Persians attacked Egypt while going through the territory which is today Israel:
What happened to that territory when this happened?
Who was the king?
Is this ...
3
votes
1answer
253 views
How do we know the oldest New Testament manuscripts are copies? [closed]
Wikipedia claims over and over in different ways that we have no autographs of New Testament manuscripts, but we have lots of copies written by hand by various persons. Do we believe these manuscripts ...
1
vote
1answer
914 views
Did Josephus question the date of the destruction of the First or Second Temple?
In Flavius Josephus's War of the Jews, in Book 6, Chapter 4, he described the day that the Second Temple burned. He then consoles himself by saying that all good things must come to an end, but then ...
3
votes
1answer
912 views
In the context of Ancient Egypt, what could “Priest of On” mean?
Was there any city or deity or ruler in Ancient Egypt named On (in Hebrew pronounced "own")? I'm trying to understand what might be the source for the reference in Genesis 41:45:
And Pharaoh named ...
10
votes
6answers
3k views
Is there an example of Egypt recording defeat?
Some defenders of the Torah's historical accuracy respond to a lack of evidence for the exodus from Egypt with the claim that Egypt simply didn't make records of its negative events. For example, ...
13
votes
1answer
430 views
Is there any possible way to count provinces of the Achaemenid Empire to be 127?
I know the historical basis for the Book of Esther isn't exactly "there," but for the sake of argument, if someone wanted to believe it and stand by the first verse that says:
Now it came to pass ...
6
votes
1answer
3k views
Pigs in ancient Israel
(all Bible citations are from KJV)
[Leviticus, chapter 11]
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Who suppressed the Book of Jubilees and why?
Wikipedia says the Book of Jubilees was suppressed in 4th century CE:
The Book of Jubilees (Hebrew: ספר היובלים Sepher hayYobelim),
sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient ...
10
votes
2answers
411 views
Were Roman emperors in the first century AD shown as holding stars in their hands?
The New Testament Book of Revelation starts with an image of the exalted Jesus holding several stars in his hand.
I read in a commentary that there were coins at that time which showed Roman emperors ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? [closed]
I was reading this article and assuming the data provided by the website correct I came to my mind as to how historically valid is the testimony of the life of Jesus in the new testament is as the ...
13
votes
6answers
18k views
What was the estimated population living in Egypt around 1446 BC?
The biblical narrative in Exodus 11 tells that all firstborn sons of Egypt died in a single night. While maybe there's no historical evidence of that, it would be interesting to know what was the ...
7
votes
3answers
12k views
What was the world population around 970 BC? Does it fit the biblical narrative?
What was the world population around 970 BC?
What was Palestine's population around 970 BC?
Does the following bible verse fits in the current historical world population estimatives?
In Israel ...
-6
votes
1answer
374 views
Noah Versus Utnapishtim [closed]
There are two Great Flood legends: one in the Bible involving Noah, and one in Sumerian mythology. Multiple civilizations and cultures have a flood legend, so does that add historical credence to the ...
4
votes
4answers
5k views
Is there any corroborating evidence for the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
Is there any historical evidence from the Babylonian or Persian side corroborating the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego found in Daniel chapters 1-3? What is the general state of records of ...
11
votes
2answers
15k views
Do any Egyptian hieroglyphics mention the ten plagues?
Is there any evidence of the ten plagues in Hieroglyphics or is that a legend?
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Is the Bible considered a reliable historical resource? [closed]
I realize there is probably a large spectrum of opinions on this matter. Nevertheless, what is the general consensus among academics on the historical reliability of the Bible? Is it a sound ...
